The South Carolina Constitution of 1895 provided for each county to elect one senator for a four-year
term. The election of senators was staggered so that half of the
state Senate was elected every two years. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1964 for the
case Reynolds v. Sims, the state
Senate was reapportioned in 1966 as a temporary measure into 27
districts with 50 members for two-year terms. In 1967, the state
Senate was again reapportioned, this time into 20 districts with 46
members for four-year terms. The number of districts was reduced to
16 in 1972 and in 1984, they were eliminated with the creation of
single member districts.

(a) The election of a Democrat from Abbeville was
declared void and the seat remained vacant.(b) All 7 were members of the Conservative Party of
South Carolina.(c) After the 2000 elections, the Senate was evenly
split between 23 Democrats and 23 Republicans. A Democrat, J. Verne
Smith of Greer, switched to the
Republicans to break the tie.(d) Republicans gained an additional seat in a 2007
special election. The current party makeup is 27 Republicans and 19
Democrats.